“She said ‘If you can’t play defense, you’re not going to be on the court,’” said senior point guard Ferniqua Johnson who recalls spending that entire first practice working on defense.
Sanders, formerly Tamarah Woodson, knows all too well how playing great defense produces winning results.
A 1994 Temple graduate, the 5-3 Sanders played a key role in generating a stifling full-court defense that led the Tem-Cats to an 87-20 record and three playoff appearances in her three seasons.
After Temple finished 18-13 and fell one game short of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2004 last year, the Tem-Cats - who begin their regular season at Brenham at 7:30 tonight - vow to return to the playoffs.
And in order to get there, Sanders hopes to rekindle the type of quick, ferocious defense that made Temple one of the state’s most successful programs in the 1990s.
“That was the biggest priority - just to get them to wanting to play defense because the last few years they’ve been an offensive-minded team,” said Sanders, who will be a head coach for the first time in her career after spending the previous four years as an assistant at Class 5A Houston Westbury. “To get them down and ready and playing defense the whole practice and not even worry about offense was the biggest challenge.”
Temple suffered through a heartbreaking season last year, losing five of its six district games by a total of 13 points. More important, the Tem-Cats lost nearly 70 percent of their offense, led by Katelyn Murdoch and Trenette Smith, two of the school’s all-time top players.
“They (Murdoch and Smith) wanted to go to the playoffs and wanted to win,” said Johnson, who averaged four points a game last year and sprained her ankle in Thursday’s scrimmage against Pflugerville. “With us being seniors we want to win too and get to the playoffs.”
Added senior Shantae Hewins, who started her sophomore and junior seasons: “Playing against them made us work harder because they set the standard. Now we set the standard this year.”
While replacing Murdoch and Smith is nearly impossible, Temple has plenty of reason to be optimistic with the way Johnson and junior forward Terris Goodwin closed out last season, along with the return of Hewins.
Playing point guard in the regular-season finale against Bryan for the first time all season, the 5-7 Johnson handled the Vikings’ press - which forced 35 Tem-Cat turnovers the first time the two teams played - in leading Temple to the win.
Goodwin, a 5-10 junior who started from the midway point of the season last year, also played her best game, recording season-highs with 20 points and 17 rebounds.
Hewins, a 5-8 forward, averaged almost six points a game last year and has plenty of experience.
While nine of the 14 varsity players are 5-8 or smaller, the Tem-Cats received a big boost when 6-2 senior Jordan Pickett decided to play basketball.
“When she’s in there, she’s a big impact,” said Sanders of Pickett, who was a standout volleyball player. “Having her presence in their makes a big difference.”
Pickett’s and Goodwin’s shot blocking and rebounding presence in the paint compliments the speed and quickness of Johnson, 5-5 junior Alesha Mosley, 5-7 junior Jourdan Truesdale, Hewins and others, who’ll be featuring a hard-nosed pressing and half-court man-to-man defense to force turnovers and create easy points.
If the team accepts Sanders’ determined defensive mentality, the foundation of Temple’s strong tradition, the Tem-Cats should have a great shot at earning one of District 12-5A’s four playoff berths.
“That’s all we’ve been preaching,” said Sanders about reaching the playoffs. “It’s not a want-to, it’s a must.”
